A Different Type of Winter Wonderland
by kittykatsama
Summary: Jack Frost's name has not made it's way around the world yet, and he isn't too pleased. After hearing some rather rude things from a little non-believer, he storms off in search of an answer to his problems. Who would have ever guessed that he'd find it in Hawaii? Jack/OC, AU. Rated T because I was too lazy to make it M
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

A pout settled onto the white haired boy's face. Having spent the last few hours creating the perfect snowstorm across the west coast, he expected a feeling of satisfaction, but the only thing he felt was irritation. It was one of the strongest cold fronts in years, and yet, something was bugging him. It lay there, poking and prodding until he just couldn't take it anymore.

Every year in the winter, he would fly around the world and deliver snow days and fun for the children to enjoy. So why could no one see him? Well, sure, there was Jamie and all of his friends that believed in him, and he was very grateful for that. He just couldn't understand why no one else could. Mumbling to himself about his woes, he flew over to the airport to check on the flights that have been canceled. He had to admit; the wonders of his snow fun came with a price.

"Mommy, its two days before Christmas! What if we can't make it there in time?" whined a little boy wrapped up in his sweater. "What if Santa can't find us?" '_Oh, he'll find you alright'_ thought the white haired boy to himself. North would do anything to keep the children believing in him. Unlike a certain white haired boy, who's only ever acknowledged in one line of a Christmas song.

"If only there wasn't all this stupid snow, we'd be at Grandma's by now!" The little boy began to stomp his feet in frustration. Stupid snow? Did that kid just say _stupid snow_? The white hair boy was taken aback by the boy's comment. How dare the boy even insinuate that the hard work that he went through the trouble of doing was more of a nuisance than fun.

"Calm down Joshua," the boy's mother said with a soft voice. "You should be grateful for the snow that we have." Now there was a woman with common sense. "When we get to Hawaii, there won't be any to play with."

"I know," huffed the little boy. "But I just want to get away from all this cold and snow! Sometimes, I just wish we lived in Hawaii." he said to the floor. And with that, something snapped in the winter spirit's head. With his staff in hand, he flew out of the airport and directly through the snowstorm he created, breaking apart the carefully crafted winds and disrupting the delicate air temperature.

How could anywhere without snow be fun? What was there to do? Reaching the Pacific Ocean, he stopped and looked out into the vast ocean. What could Hawaii possibly have that's more fun and interesting than snow? He didn't like the idea of warm weather during the winter, but he decided that it was finally time to go and visit this ever-so-popular island chain.

A/N Well, this is my first ever published chapter, so I know it's a bit short :P Please bear with me as I fully intend to improve with your help ;3 read & review~

Btw, I own none of them characters T^T forever alone lol


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_"I hope everyone has warm clothes and hot chocolate on their Christmas list, because it seems like a small part of the storm hitting the west coast has broken off and is heading straight towards us."_

The weatherman waved his arms about in front of a map of the islands as he went on about the stormy days that would be coming up. I sat on the couch with the fuzziest blanket I could find while eating away out of the box of mint chocolates that I had received as an early present from my parents. The weather was indeed cold, and seemed to drop a few more degrees each day. It's not like I didn't enjoy this kind of weather though. While everyone else moped around about how the sky was too overcast and that their new boots were all wet, I relished in the fact that I was about as close to a White Christmas as I would ever get.

"Bed time, Rin." my dad called from upstairs. I replied with a curt grunt, and made my way back to my room in the dark. It was two more days until Christmas, and I could barely wait. As a teenager, I suppose I should have stopped believing in Santa long ago. When faced with all the cold hard facts (we didn't have a chimney; our door was dead-bolted; why the hell is it legal for some random man in a red suit to break and enter everyone's houses and leave unknown and potentially dangerous things under our tree?), I also had my doubts, but for some reason, I believe in him. Well, at least his spirit. I will never know if Santa actually physically came to my house or not, but I know without a doubt that the spirit of Santa is real, and he goes from house to house every night making sure that each child is safe and happy.

I climbed into bed and shifted around until I was warm and comfortable under my four layers of blanket. With my headphones on, I selected my Christmas playlist. A song from Nat King Cole began to play.

_Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…_

The sound of the carol was soothing, as I soon found myself on the brink of sleep.

_Jack Frost nipping at your nose…_

All of a sudden, as if a gust of wind had picked me up, I was flying.

* * *

_The cold air stung my face as I flew through the darkness, with the stars above as my one source of light. I'd been flying for about an hour now, and at the speed I was going, I knew I was almost there. I was too focused on flying that I didn't realize a faint tune was playing. What I did see though, was a bright white light appear before me._

**_Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…_**

_As I neared the light, I commanded the wind to slow down, but instead it sped up, and soon I was out of control. The light seemed to get bigger and bigger until it was the size of a giant doorway. Wasn't seeing the light a bad thing? I closed my eyes bracing for impact._

**_Jack Frost nipping at your nose…_**

_What?_

_I opened my eyes at the call of my name only to be flying over the deep blue, no bright doorway in sight. Huh, that was weird. I looked up to the stars to see where I was, and from what I saw, I was going in the right direction, so ignoring the whole 'seeing the light' thing that just happened, I decided to keep going. _

_The only thing I could see for miles around was just the ocean, but I wasn't concerned with getting lost; I knew exactly where I was going. Faster and faster, I was skimming across the surface of the water, then I saw it; far in the distance, there were several land masses just within miles of each other. With a burst of speed, I left patches of frozen water in my wake as I neared the islands. After taking a good long look at each of them, I decided to go to the one that I believe was named "Oahu". Looking down at the green mountains and the small towns set up here and there, I got more irritated by the minute. There was nothing special about this island, and certainly nothing that looked remotely fun. The whipped around excitedly at my presence. It began to rain gently and closing my eyes, I welcomed the coldness of it. Being on a tropical island, I thought it would be more, you know, __**tropical**__, but I guess not._

_ That's when I heard it; it was quiet at first, but then slowly, it got louder and louder. It was a sound so familiar to me, I almost didn't know what it was, but when I opened my eyes, it suddenly hit me. Literally, a piece of hail hit me straight on my head._

_Oh God. I was making it hail! It's definitely not supposed to hail in the middle of flat land this close to the equator. I guess I relaxed too much, which would explain why the air was a few degrees lower than it should be. I began to panic as I desperately tried to stop the hail, but it seemed the more I tried to control the weather, the more I lost control over it. The hail turned into the size of golf balls, and I could hear some glass shattering down below. This wasn't good, this definitely wasn't good._

_-Thunk-_

_ It took me a while to register what that loud thud was for by the time I realized it, I was already plummeting towards the earth, unable to stop myself as my consciousness was slipping away. Now, for me, the almighty winter spirit to get hit by hail; that was pretty bad. But getting hit by my own hail that I created? That was rubbing salt into the wound. I let the last of my consciousness slip away as I fell hard into a tree. The last thing I saw was an old, abandoned playground._

* * *

You know that feeling you get when you fall back into reality from your dreams? Well, that's pretty much how I felt waking up the next morning, except it felt a few hundred times worse. My blankets were covering my face, and I couldn't breathe. The strange thing was how _cold_ I was. All of my windows were shut, and I was covered from head to toe, and yet I felt like I was sitting in a freezer. That dream must have really screwed with my mind. What kind of random dream was that anyway? Maybe it was just a sign that I really shouldn't consume sugar before going to sleep. But then again, that dream… Was it just a coincidence? I huddled further into my blanket seeking warmth. That playground where I landed, I had recognized it right off the bat; it's behind the elementary school in our valley. They don't let any of the children play on it anymore because it's too dangerous to cross the stream in between. I could already feel the thought forming in my head, and I tried my best to suppress it, but of course, my curiosity would eventually get the better of me. That was just like me; to go and investigate some 'message' that I got through a dream. This wouldn't be the first time I was doing something like this, and I'm sure it definitely wouldn't be the last. Hearing the rain gently fall outside, I let out a small sigh, and then laughed to myself. Hail? Really? How could it ever hail in Oahu? I really should lay off the hot chocolate before bed.

A/N I've seen hail once in my life I think, when I went up ti visit my cousins in Seattle... Except it looked like dippin' dots have rained from the sky :P oh well, if you didn't know this by now, I own none of the characters in this story that were from the movie Rise of the Guardians. But my OC is my very own :3 with a sweet little side story. Rate and Review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Well folks, it looks like Santa came by for an early visit last night and has left the Kaneohe and Kailua regions with some hail." That was the first thing that came out of the weatherman's mouth on the news that morning.

"Karin, really, you're 15-years-old; you should know better than to spit out your food like that," was the admonition that I received from my mother after I sprayed the scrambled eggs that were in my mouth onto the table. No. There was just no way. I mean, it can't hail in Hawaii, right?

"B-But, its hail mom. Hail!" I said, the word sounding almost foreign in my mouth from the lack of use. A shiver ran down my spine as I recalled last night's dream. That couldn't have been real… Could it? "I mean, it's never hailed here before, has it?" I inquired.

"Sure it has," she said, scraping what was left of breakfast into containers. "The state has been keeping a record of it since… Well, since we first became a state." was the reply I got.

Oh. So the idea wasn't as crazy as I thought. Still, that doesn't explain the dream I had last night. After I put my dishes into the sink, I got dressed and ready to go. Go where? Obviously to the abandoned playground. Yeah, it was Christmas Eve and all, but it's not like I exactly had anything better to do. Both of my parents had work today, and my older sister was off to who-knows-where.

I waited until I was the only one left in the house. My mom definitely wouldn't let me leave the house without a pair of jeans and a thick sweater, but I didn't like long-sleeved anything. It felt so restricting. So of course when I left the house, it was freezing cold. I took my over-sized jacket with me to at least keep dry, 'cause it's not like the shorts and T-shirt I was wearing was going to do me any good. After locking up, I headed down the lane and started my little journey to the park.

The valley that I lived in was quiet, and a gentle drizzle was falling from the sky most of the time. There wasn't much to do here as there was only a park and an elementary school. There was also a graveyard behind the school, but from what I could see, I don't think anyone has been there in years. The school itself was only a short 10 minute walk away from my house, and I arrived there in no time.

I walked through the campus and silently laughed to myself at how small everything was. I didn't attend this specific elementary school, but I have walked around it enough times to know where I was going. Reaching the back of the school, I opened the rusted fence and slowly crossed over the bridge. There was a small stream running underneath it. The bridge was made out of concrete, but it was eroding away. Carefully, I stepped only on the places that looked stable. The school decided that it was too dangerous for kids to cross over the bridge every day, so they built a newer one on the campus to keep them safe.

I walked up to the old playground and sat at the bottom of the slide. Technically, this place was off limits to the students, and the sign up front said nothing about the residents of the valley. I looked up at the trees surrounding the playground. If I remembered correctly I landed right about… There! I stood up and walked to a nearby tree, looking up to see what I could find. I guess that wasn't too good of an idea, because the next step I took was into a huge pile of something wet and cold. Slowly, I tilted my head down, horrified to find out what I stepped in when my eyes opened with surprise and a gasp escaped my lips.

It was snow! And there was a lot by the looks of it. I squatted down and took up a handful which was probably not a very good idea.

"Ahh! It's so cold!" I couldn't help but yell out as I dropped the snow.

"Heh, that's what you get for touching snow with your bare hands, idiot." came a voice. I froze and cautiously looked upward from where the voice came from. With the sunlight shining through the trees, I had a hard time seeing anything, but then, I saw him. With hair as white as the snow beneath my feet, there was a boy was hanging from several branches. He looked rather uncomfortable, as his body was awkwardly draped and his blue sweater snagged in some twigs. Normally, my first reaction would be to question why there was a random boy with an unnatural hair color up in a tree at 7:30 in the morning, but I was too embarrassed at my blunder to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Well, at least I'm not stuck helplessly in a tree!" I hollered back. That sure got his attention, as he flinched with surprise and began to fall out of the tree. For a split second, I felt satisfied with myself because whenever I tried to make up a comeback, I would always get laughed. The feeling quickly faded though; there were other things I should be thinking about right now. For example, the boy I startled, who was about to fall from a tree branch 30 feet off the ground.

Without thinking, I threw myself beneath him to break his fall, which in turn almost broke my back. We both groaned in pain, and I turned onto my back to see if he was alright. Getting a look as his face for the first time, I silently withdrew a breath.

I thought that the most striking feature would be his hair, but I was greatly mistaken. His eyes were as crystal as water, and seemed to be as deep as the sky; I felt like I was being pulled into them, falling further and further into him. The strange thing was, he was staring back at me too. Those perfect features looking at me as if I were the only light left in the whole universe. Most of all, I saw hope in his eyes. I blinked a couple times, taking in the magic of the moment, but then his startled and almost childlike look was quickly replaced by a smirk as he propped himself up onto his arms.

"Why thank you my knight in shining armor," he said sarcastically, a lazy smile spreading across his face. "You've saved me." He mumbled something else to himself, but it was too quiet for me to catch. Something like, 'in more ways than one'? I rolled my eyes as I shoved him off, but he winced in pain at the sudden movement.

"Cut the crap, you're hurt, aren't you?" I said, trying to put real sympathy into my voice. I laid him down flat on the ground, only remembering just then that the ground was covered in snow. I took off my jacket, and laid it over him. He fidgeted around uncomfortably under it.

"Get it off please, it's too hot." Too hot? It's five below the lowest recorded temperature, and he was hot? I glanced over at what he was wearing, and it wasn't much. A worn out blue sweater, some tan colored pants that were wrapped up with some brown twine, and that was about it. He wasn't even wearing any shoes. Even I was already beginning to shiver from the lack of my jacket.

"No. It's freezing and you're injured. I don't know how long you've been out here, but I need to get you some help." I looked up at the sky; the dark clouds were closing in on us. We needed to get to shelter quickly, otherwise we were gonna be soaked.

"Anyway, what's your name?" A smirk escaped his lips, and he looked me straight in the eye.

"Why, I thought you'd never ask."

A/N Meh, such a sassy boy :P but that's a part of what makes him so cute x3 Thank you to anyone reading this, as it is a big encouragement to me. Rate & review~


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Take a wild guess," the boy smirked, wincing as he spread his arms out wide. "I mean, surely, you must know who I am." He was completely confident in himself.

'_I've found someone, I've finally found someone!_' he thought to himself. Since she could see him as clear as day, it could only mean one thing: She believed in Jack Frost. _She believed in me._

"Umm…uhh….. What?" She said, her expression obviously a confused one. The boy's face dropped a little, not expecting such a blunt reply.

"What do you mean… 'what'? I mean, you can see me… can't you?" he said, waving his hand in front of her face to test her vision. She swatted it away with a look of irritation.

"Yes. Yes I can." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. I can also see that you hit your head pretty hard on your way down." The boy looked pleadingly at her, as if by sheer will power he could make her say his name.

"Shit, I forgot my phone at home. How am I supposed to get help?" She said to no one in particular. The boy laughed to himself; even if she did get someone to come and help, they would think she's delusional. After all, what good could a non-believer do to help him? The girl took another glance at the sky and made a face.

"I'll just call the police then," The girl said looking beyond the trees. "I pretty sure that there's an emergency phone in the old graveyard." His face went paler than its usual soft white complexion.

"N-nooooo, I don't think that's a good idea." The boy said. Letting her call the police and get in trouble for something that would seem like a prank call was just something that he couldn't let happen. That would be going overboard.

"Oh? And why not?" She replied, getting up and dusting herself off. A mischievous smile crept onto her face. "Maybe because you'd get in trouble?" She smirked. "What would the police say if a boy was found trespassing onto sanctioned off areas and was found in a tree to top it off?" This girl just didn't get it did she. So much for trying to help her. He thought to himself a little before speaking up.

"Then what does that make you?" he said with an almost defiant look on his face. "What will they think of the trespasser who called them in the first place?" You could practically see the idea of getting caught going through her head as her expression darkened a little. She hadn't thought of that.

_Come to think of it, is it really just a coincidence that this one girl that can actually see me just so happened to be walking through an abandoned playground so early in the morning?_

"Why are you here anyway? It's Christmas Eve, isn't it?" he asked. "What was so interesting that made you decide to leave your warm house and walk in the rain?" The girl flinched a little and looked at him sheepishly.

"A dream." Her reply was so quiet that he wasn't sure he had heard correctly. "A-anyway, you need to be tended to." She said, quickly changing the subject. "Do you think you can walk?" He shifted uncomfortably and after a groan of pain, she took it as a 'no'.

"Okay then, wait right here. I'm going to go back to my house really quickly and get my bike." She tried her best to prop him up against the tree without hurting him too much. He gave her a puzzled look and she sighed. "I'm gonna have to get you to my house somehow." His blue eyes widened as he shook his head back and forth.

"That's really not nec-"

"I'll be back soon." Before he could say anything else, all he could see was her back as she jogged away.

A/N I know, I know. Another short chapter ^^" but hey, thinks are finally beginning to get a little interesting, right? You know what to do~


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_"Acchu-"_ My clothes were thoroughly soaked by the time I managed to get back to the school. You'd think that by my age, I'd be able to ride a bike perfectly, but that definitely wasn't the case. It didn't help that half way on my walk home, it started pouring out of nowhere. Sloshing through the mud, I made my way to the old tree.

Oh. Haha, how cute. He fell asleep. Though I don't know how he managed to doze off while it was practically storming. Kneeling down next to him, I gently tapped his shoulder.

"Hey, wake up." He shifted and grunted quietly, but failed to wake up fully. Sighing to myself, I tried as best as I could to piggy-back him over to my bike. Being only 89 lbs. and slightly under 5'2", this was no easy feat as he was easily 5'7", give or take a couple inches.

Awkwardly, I tried to climb onto my bike with him on my back. I almost dropped him, but thankfully caught him at the last minute. As I slowly and carefully made my way off campus, I took a moment to think about what the hell I was doing. Taking a complete stranger (a boy no less) to my house when no one was home was about one of the stupidest things I could do.

I rested under a bus stop and turned around to examine the cause of my guilt. He was still asleep miraculously, but he didn't seem to be at peace. His eyebrows were scrunched together, and his lips were curved into a small frown. His seemingly soft, inviting lips…

What. The. Hell. What was I thinking of?! I whipped my head back around, hiding the rosy blush on my cheeks from no one. _'This is so wrong,'_ I thought to myself as I peddled on forward. Logically speaking, what I was doing was just downright stupid; but then, why did it feel so… right?

My thoughts drifted back to the dream I had last night. I saw that vision for a reason, and it had brought me to this boy. There was no way in hell I was going to ignore this blatantly obvious message that I had received, be it from God or Fate.

* * *

Warmth. All the boy felt was warmth from his head to his toes. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was such foreign feeling that he shot up in surprise.

"Augh- Dammit!" he cursed, clutching his sides. There was a searing pain in his ribcage, and his head throbbed slightly. Looking down, he saw that he was covered in several layers of blankets. Huh, no wonder he was so warm. Taking advantage of his upright position, he observed his surroundings: He was in a medium sized room that was the color of lavenders, and he lay on a tiny twin-sized bed. Turning his head around, he saw out the window that the sun had risen a bit higher into the sky; it wasn't easy though, as the sun was obscured by dark clouds and heavy showers. Before he could notice anything else, a small figure walked into the room.

"Good, you're awake." She said, drying her hair with a towel. Taking a closer look, she was dripping water as she walked around the room towards the bed. "You've been out for a few hours now." He raised an inquiring eyebrow at her drenched appearance.

"Oh, I ran out to the drug store to buy some cold medicine. You were as cold as a block of ice, so I was looking through the medicine cabinet, but everything was expired." She gestured to the glass of water sitting on the table and the two small pills sitting next to it. "You wanna take it now?"

"Nah… I'm fine." He said hesitantly. Why had she brought him here? More importantly, _how_ did she get him here? "What happened?" the boy asked, trying to recall the memories himself.

"You fell asleep under the tree, so I brought you to my house by the bike." She explained, sitting on the bed next to him. Then, her face turned a deep red as she turned away and whispered, "Oh… And your clothes are in the dryer now, so they'll be out soon." _My what?_ The boy looked down at himself and finally noticed that he wasn't wearing his own clothes. In place of his blue hoodie and brown pants were the over-sized jacket she put on him earlier and some sweat pants. His face soon matched the same shade as hers; he had been flustered before, but never quite like this.

"D-Don't worry though," she said, stuttering at the lack of words. "I swear, I didn't see anything." She stared down at the blanket with rapt interest, refusing to look him in the eyes. Although he felt embarrassed himself, watching the girl like this, he thought that she was kind of… cute. He cleared his throat and spoke up.

"I know," he said, completely regaining his composure. "You definitely don't look like someone who'd be on the naughty list." He teased. The girl's face turned from flustered to fierce as she looked up and made a face.

"No, I most certainly am not! Unlike a certain monkey who likes to hang around in trees." Came her retort. They both chuckled together as the tension released a little. There, now the awkwardness was gone. For the most part anyway.

The girl looked thoughtfully at his blue eyes, then came to a sudden realization. "You know, you still never told me what your name was." He blinked slowly then laughed to himself, as he carefully came out from beneath the sheets, making sure to hide how much pain he was in. Now fully upright, he sat cross-legged on what he assumed was her bed, and had a sly smile spread across his face.

"You want to know that badly, huh." She nodded vigorously and leaned in closer. The boy thought that she looked like a little kid like that. "Why?" he asked, thinking that he'd tease her a bit more. "After I leave today, you probably may never see me again." She bit her lip in contemplation and looked at the floor. He had a point. She was quiet for a moment, then looked back up at him.

"Well, you asked me what I was doing out so early, and umm…" she hesitated before continuing. "I think I went there to find you." After a second passed by, she realized how misleading that statement could be and averted her eyes. The boy was glad she did so, because he was thrown off by what she said.

_ Waaait, wait, wait, wait. This girl came to find __**me**__? I was the one in search of an answer though._ The boy thought to himself. A voice even deeper within him spoke up. _She __**is**__ the answer I was looking for._ The girl waited for him to ask why, but began to talk again after no response was given.

"Y-Ya see… I had this dream last night and… Well, basically, it took me to that playground, and that's where I found you." She managed to get out a basic explanation. Everything seemed to go silent for a couple minutes as he soaked in what she told him. "As for how you got up in that tree…" she continued, "you flew up there… didn't you?" '_Well, more like fell into the tree, but that wasn't the point'_ they both thought simultaneously. The boy looked over at her and could see curiosity and confusion on her face; he also saw a hint of fear. A fear of what he was. A fear of him.

Could he really tell her who he was? Or what he was? He wasn't sure if he could do it; bring her into their world, with all of its dangers and mysteries. He had already taken responsibility for getting Jamie and his friends involved. Could he really let another innocent bystander pulled into his world?

Then again, she could see him. To be more specific, she could see him, hear him,… touch him; all from the very beginning. He really wanted to get to know her, but was it really alright for her to get to know him? The girl looked back up at him and made eye contact.

"Please, tell me." She reached up and touched his cheek. It was a loving gesture, as if from a mother requesting something of her son, but it was also a curious one, testing to see if what was in front of her was real.

"Who are you?"

A/N Decisions, decisions :3 I was so happy to finally get my first review ever from "ElektraMackenzie" Thank you for taking the time to review my amateur work. AND YOU! -points at reader- Don't you dare skip over the review button! Please, please, PLEASE REVIEW! Do it for the kittykat :3 nyaa~


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

He kept his eyes averted from me, staring at the floor. Why was he being so silent? He shifted uncomfortably and opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it again, taking the time to think about what he was going to say.

"It's like this," he began. "I'm… uhh, I…" He hesitated once more, then sighed. "Jack," he finally said. "Just call me Jack."

Oh. Well, that was a simple answer.

"Jack." I repeated to myself. "Nice to meet you, Jack." I smiled at him, though he seemed to be disappointed with my reaction, or lack thereof. "I'm Karin, but you can call me Rin."  
He stared at me with a blank face. "Nice to meet you too… Rin." He extended his hand for me to shake, but quickly withdrew it in pain. "You got any painkillers or something?" Jack asked, slowly leaning back against my pillows.  
"Yeah, one sec." I stood up and walked to the bathroom, grabbing a small bottle of Advil. "Here." I handed him a small round pill. As I passed him the cup of water, my hand brushed against his, and I couldn't help but gasp. "You're still so cold!" I exclaimed, smashing his face between my hands. He still felt like an ice block, devoid of any heat. "Do you feel okay?"  
He shook his head trying to escape from my grasp and laughed. "I'm fine, don't worry." He popped the pill into his mouth and took a swig of water. "I'm kind of always this cold. Always have been, and always will be." I looked at him, and thought about what he said. Before I knew it, I was already asking the question that formed in my head.  
"Are you… dead?" he choked on the sip of water that he was currently drinking and laughed at the innocent look on my face. Well that was rude. It was an honest to goodness question. His pale face was as all red after he was finished coughing and laughing.  
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Jack set the cup down onto the nightstand. "I died a long time ago. It's been about 300 years I think." The way he said it came off as carefree and nonchalant, but I saw it in his eyes: Hurt, pain, a swirl of mixed emotions that I knew I wasn't supposed to be seeing. Deciding that ignoring what I noticed was best, I casually went along with the conversation.

"Oh, so… you're like, a ghost?" I asked. He smiled and shook his head.

"Nope, I'm a bit different than that." He put his hand over mine and a shiver ran down my spine, not necessarily from his cool touch. "See? I can touch you. If I were a ghost, I wouldn't be able to do that, now would I?" he told me, talking to me as if I were a small child. I scowled at him.  
"Well then, if you're not a ghost, then what are you?" I demanded, impatient for an answer. He thought to himself for a second, then a mischievous smile appeared on his face.  
"You really wanna know?" he asked, leaning in closer. I wasn't too sure where he was going with this, but I nodded anyway. He let out a small laugh and whispered quietly, "I'm your guardian angel."

* * *

_'It's not a lie, technically speaking.'_ Jack thought to himself. After all, he was a guardian, and since he wasn't really dead, he was somewhat of an angel, right?  
Karin looked up at him with an incredulous look on her face. "You're my _guardian angel_?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Did you really expect me to believe that?"  
_'Well, at least I know she's competent.'_ He thought. Jack didn't feel quite ready to tell her who he was though. At least not yet. For the time being, he decided to keep up this façade. "What, you don't believe me?" he asked, faking hurt. "Do you want more proof? Need me to fly into another tree?" Jack laughed at her irritated reaction.  
"No, but I doubt an angel would fly into a tree in the first place." She paused and contemplated a bit more.  
"Although, I don't think I've ever met any that can _fly_ before." Karin bit her lip and was quiet for a while. "Are you really him?" She gazed into his eyes causing Jack to freeze. Through her eyes, he felt as if he were being sucked in, unable to look away. Suddenly, a picture popped into his head. A little girl was standing in the rain with tears streaming down her face. '_Is that… her?'_ he thought to himself.  
"Jack… Jack!" She snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Hello~ are you my guardian angel or not?" she asked again. _'What was that?'_ he asked himself. Pushing aside what he just saw, he nodded.  
"Y-Yeah…" He wasn't so sure about lying to her anymore, but there was nothing he could do about it now. "And to prove it," he said, changing the course of the conversation, "want to see a magic trick?" Her face brightened up a little.  
"Sure!" she said. The heavy and serious air was gone, and Jack breathed a silent breath of relief to himself. Smiling from seeing her so excited, he held out his hand with his palm up. Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she watched his every move. The air above his palm began to swirl, and the temperature of the room dropped a few degrees. Tiny crystals of ice flew in a small vortex above his hand, and then came together with a flash of blue light. Floating in his hand was an ice sculpture of a snowflake.  
"Whoa," Karin breathed out in disbelief. "It's beautiful!" Jack delicately placed the snowflake into her hands. He observed her as she held it up to her face in wonder. Taking advantage of the moment, he decided to get a closer look at her.  
Her hair fell just above her shoulders in a gentle wave from still being damp. It was the same dark brown as her eyes that marveled at the sculpture. She had such a fair complexion, it rivaled with his own snowy white skin. Her straight cut bangs only amplified the effect of her cherubic appearance. From the happiness and excitement shown on her face, she really looked like a little kid.

"How come it's not melting?" She asked, the snowflake still hovering in her hands.

"Because it won't melt until I want it to." Jack replied. "It will stay like that forever until I release it. An eternal beauty." She nodded and continued to enjoy the sculpture.

* * *

The big man continued to stroke his white beard as he looked up at the globe. Everywhere, there were twinkling lights, each representing a little believer. There were also several red lights showing where each guardian was.  
He paced back and forth on the platform, oblivious to the tiny elves he was stepping on. Nothing like this has ever happened before, so he was unsure of what to do: out of the five guardians, there were only four red lights on the radar, and he knew exactly who was missing. There were only two possible reasons for a guardian light to be missing: 1) No one believed in that guardian, resulting in their disappearance from the earth or 2) They were no longer of that world. He knew that the boy in question had already gained his little troop of believers, so that only left the other option.  
He sighed to himself in frustration, and pulled out a glass sphere from his coat. If the boy did indeed go off to another world, it would be a dangerous mission to bring him back. There were so many risks that would be taken, and he knew couldn't let the others go along with him, much less let them find out about it. After all, being the oldest guardian, he knew things that the others didn't; the fact that there were other worlds being one of them.

"Jack," the burly man said out loud. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

A/N This chapter took me a long time to write D: but at least I got through it! Oh, and if you're wondering about the vision Jack saw... That leads into another story that I'll be publishing later. Like, after this story is finished later lol the OC Karin (pronounced Kah-rin) has a background shrouded in mystery. As I post more stories, you'll slowly find out more about her :3 rate and review please!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The husky man walked over to his sleigh, packing several things that he would need for his trip. It wasn't every day that he got to visit another world, so he would take advantage of this opportune moment and turn it into something like an exploration trip. It would have to be a quick trip though; Christmas was tomorrow and if he wasn't back by then…Ouch.

He was careful not to act suspiciously while he was preparing to depart. It would be bad if any of the others knew that he was leaving, and it would be especially troublesome if they found out where he was going.

When he was ready to leave, he sat in his sleigh and pulled a clear sphere with gold accents out of his red coat. He had used many of these transportation portals to move from place to place around the globe, but he had only used it once before to go to another world. Unlatching a little gold trigger on the accent had caused a swirling pattern inside the sphere.

"Take me to Frosty," he commanded the crystal ball. A little emblem of a snowflake appeared inside of it, and the jolly man let out a breath of relief. Suddenly, he chucked the orb into the air in front of the sleigh and a portal appeared. With control over the reins, he sped forth and disappeared into the hole, and it sealed up with a flash of light after him.

* * *

It was late afternoon and the Advil had finally come into effect. Jack still couldn't get out of bed though, but he could move around comfortably. Karin had made them a small lunch, and was now sipping on some hot chocolate at the foot end of the bed. They had been talking about all sorts of trivial things like, 'what's your favorite color' and 'what kind of food do you like?' A silence settled over them, but it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward. Jack then spoke up.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked me yet." He said with an impressed tone. Karin gave him a confused look, but he only laughed and said, "You know… about how I died." Her face paled a little.

"I-I wasn't sure if I should." She said, looking away. "It's a sensitive topic, right?" Karin fidgeted where she was sitting, now staring into her mug. Jack couldn't help but smile to himself; _'So this is what it feels like to be thought of.'_ He thought. _'It's been so long, I almost forgot. Especially with that damn kangaroo around'_

"I don't mind much." He positioned himself so that he was sitting up straight against the head of the bed. "If you wanna know, I'll tell you." Karin thought to herself for a moment, then mumbled out a small 'okay'. Truthfully though, Jack didn't even know why he felt like telling her in the first place. It _was_ a sensitive topic for him; he didn't even tell any of the other guardians yet, and he wasn't planning on telling them any time soon. Even so, he just felt like telling this one person sitting in front of him. Did it matter that she didn't even know who he was? No, it didn't. If anything, it was probably explicitly _because_ she didn't know who he was that he was comfortable telling her. And so, he began to tell her his story of how he had a little sister that he loved so very much. He went on about how innocent and fun-loving she was.

He was just about to tell her about that fateful day when he took her to the lake, when she suddenly lunged forward and clamped her hand over his mouth. "Shh…" she told him. Jack became a little irritated that she had interrupted him right in the middle of his story when he heard it too. A car had just pulled into the garage and the engine was killed. Karin's eyes widened and she started to panic.

"Nooooooooooooo, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening." She said as she got off from the bed and started to pace the room. Her gaze suddenly darted over to Jack. "We need to hide you!" The back door clicked open, and she froze in place. Slowly, the footsteps were getting closer and closer to her room, and then stopped outside the door. Jack simply just smiled, earning an irritated, yet confused scowl from Karin.

"Rin, I'm ho…me." It was her father who opened the door. He was caught off guard when he found his daughter standing right on the other side, preventing him from moving the door any further than a crack.

"H-Hi Dad," was her awkward greeting. "How was work today? You're home pretty early."

"It was good." He stared at his daughter who seemed to be twitching with anxiety. He knew what that meant. That was the I'm-lying-but-I'm-not-going-to-admit-it twitch. "You mind if I come in-"

"No!" she exclaimed. "Uhh, I mean…"

The door was forcefully opened and Karin shut her eyes, preparing for the shit-load of trouble she was going to get in to.

"Rin, I thought I told you not to eat on your bed. It'll cause the roaches to come back again." She peaked open an eye, first to look at her father, then to stare at Jack, who was still sitting comfortably on the bed. He just smiled and waved back at her.

"…That it?"

"What do you mean, 'That it?" he questioned her. "Do you want me to scold you for something else too? Because I can name more than a few things that you-"

"No, uhh, I'm good. Sorry, I'll clean up now" Karin sighed. She was going to ask if the boy sitting on her bed was something else that needed to be cleaned up too, but she decided not to push her luck. After the door shut and she could no longer hear footsteps, her head whirled around and she stared at the boy. "Jack, how-"

"I'm your guardian, remember?" he explained before she could even finish asking. "Besides, your dad there isn't much of a believer in beings like me, so that's another reason why he didn't see me." Karin's mouth formed a small 'o'. Jack propped himself upright and watched her clean the bed. He was silent for a bit, but then spoke up. "Your dad's actually kinda scary looking," She stifled a giggle and sat back down at the foot of the bed. "And, you look nothing like him, just saying." He continued.

"Haha, I get that a lot." She said smiling. "I don't look much like my mom either, and I look like the complete opposite of my sister." Jack made a mental note to himself about what her family was like. "Well," she said standing up again, "I should finish cleaning up now. Make yourself comfortable." After she left the room, Jack crawled back under the blanket and tried to get warm again, missing the feeling of its comfort.

* * *

Night soon came over the valley, its darkness reaching everywhere. Karin had been running back and forth between spending time with her family and keeping Jack company, so you can imagine by the time it was 8:00 PM, she was thoroughly exhausted. She sat down on her desk chair and let out a sigh that turned into a yawn. Jack looked at her curiously.

"You know, you didn't have to stay with me. It's Christmas Eve; A time to be spent with those you care about." He told her. She just looked up to the ceiling.

"But I didn't think leaving my guardian all alone was right either." Though she was trying her best to hide it, he could see the blush forming on her face. He smiled to himself; there were just more and more cute things about her that he was discovering every minute that he had been here so far. Then he remembered why he had come in the first place.

Hawaii wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it would be. Sure, there was no snow and it was probably stiflingly hot most of the time, but knowing that there are people like Karin here made him love this place. This feeling is what they must call 'aloha' or something. It feels nice.

"Oh, and uhh… your clothes came out of the dryer." A light blush came over his own face as he recalled (or rather, couldn't recall) how he came to be dressed in someone else's clothes. "Do you umm…need…..help?" Obviously, her eyes were elsewhere when she asked the question, but he knew that she meant it sincerely. With mischief being in his nature and all, he couldn't help but tease her.

"Well, that depends. Would you like to help me?" Jack, being an otherworldly being and all, was completely capable of moving around after resting the whole day. But she didn't know that. He waited for her to stutter and tell him off, but there was just a hanging silence.

"…I wouldn't mind it…" she said quietly. _Oh, she wouldn't mind it. Wait, WHAT?_ He whipped his head around, only to find her staring straight back at him. She was slightly flustered, but she had the look of hard determination written all over her face. It didn't look much like she 'wouldn't mind it'. Actually, she looked like she was putting in a lot of effort just not to look away, but she was determined nonetheless.

"O-On second thought, maybe-" He was abruptly cut off when she climbed onto the bed and sat on top of him. They were just inches apart from each other, so close that you could hear each and every breath coming from the other.

"Well, at least let me check your wounds. You were in pretty bad shape when I first patched you up." Before he could argue, she unzipped the over-sized jacket he was wearing and tossed it toward the end of the bed.

"Oh, wow. They're all gone." She breathed, lightly running her petite hand over his chest. Jack felt a shiver run down from where she was touching. He wasn't even sure what was going on, but he knew that he was secretly enjoying it. She further explored his upper body; her touches left empty and cold spots all over, seeking the warmth from her hands again.

Karin looked up to see if he was in pain since he was being so silent, but all she saw were those perfect blue eyes piercing into her. There were definitely no signs of pain in them, unless you counted the slow burning desire that was building up inside of him. In all his years of life, and death, he had never quite felt like this before.

The world seemed to come to a halt at that moment as he gazed into her innocent eyes, wanting all of her attention; wanting _her_ all to himself.

It didn't matter anymore if she ever found out he was Jack Frost, and that he was a guardian. Right then and there, he was just Jack, her one and only guardian.

"Jack?" she asked, genuinely concerned from his silence.

Then, his lips were on hers before either of them could think.

A/N

1) I have never written anything remotely romantic in my entire life, so don't get mad at me if that scene sucked

2) Today was my second day home from school with some cold that makes me dizzy, so I may have been a bit delusional while writing this

3) REVIEW dammit. I appreciate those who have found the goodness in their hearts to review thus far, but I'm slowly becoming discouraged whether I should continue or not.

ANYWAY, thanks for reading! nyaa~


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**What first started out as a thoughtless act,**

_At first, I was too surprised to react,_

**Became something I would never be able to forget.**

_But soon, I found myself leaning into him._

**Her softness and warmth**

_His smooth and cool lips,_

**Pulled me in closer,**

_That held a passionate fire behind them._

**Giving me a security I have never known.**

_He held me close,_

**I wanted more of it,**

_So tightly, so lovingly;_

**To the point it was painful.**

_I didn't want him to let me go._

**This closeness that I'm feeling,**

_This feeling he gives me;_

**I have probably felt it once long ago.**

_It's so nostalgic._

**But that's in the past.**

_But that doesn't matter,_

**What's truly important,**

_Because the only thing that does_

**_Is this moment, here and now._**

* * *

He watched over Karin as she slept comfortably in her bed. Her cherubic features stood out in the moonlight that streamed through the window. Gently, Jack brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She stirred a little, but continued to sleep peacefully.

After the memorable event that occurred earlier that night, he had climbed out of the bed, surprising her with his quick recovery. She covered her eyes as he changed back into his own clothes, but he could have sworn he saw a crack between her fingers (she blushed and said it was just wishful thinking). Karin asked whether he was going to leave or not, but he assured her that he'd be there the next morning. He looked over at her LED clock sitting on the desk; 9:48 it said. It had taken a while for her to fully go under, but she eventually was swept away by sleep.

Sitting on the floor by her bedside, Jack began to think to himself. Coming here was probably one of the best decisions that he had ever made. It was a shame that she didn't know who he truly was, but that was okay. He would tell her later, after they got to know each other better. Yes, he would definitely get closer to her. He would even fly all the way out here every day if it meant seeing her. After all, he was her self-proclaimed guardian. Just like he protected all the children of the world, he would protect her with everything he had.

_"What good could your pathetic presence bring her?"_ Out of nowhere, a cold voice echoed off the walls of the room.

Jack immediately tensed; not from fear, but from a strong sense of resentment. He was on his feet in less than a second and was searching the darkness for the source of the voice. "You…" Jack snarled. "How can you be here?!" Karin shifted a little, disturbed by the little outburst.

_"Heh,"_ the voice chuckled evilly. _"Did you miss me?"_ Shadows moved around the room in a menacing way. _"I do believe it was you that brought me here though."_

What the hell was he talking about?!

_"Confused? Why should you be, when the answer is right in front of you."_

Jack's eyes locked onto Karin's sleeping figure. How could she be the reason why he's here?

"You'd better start making some sense!" he demanded, clenching his fist. "Otherwise, I'll-" He abruptly stopped mid-sentence. Jack relaxed and clenched his hand again, grasping nothing but air. _Oh no, where… where is it?!_ He frantically looked around the room for his staff, but came to a sudden, horrible realization: he never had it with him in the first place. Jack looked over to Karin again. _She must have missed it when she brought me here._ Without his staff, he couldn't muster up the bulk of his magic to protect her.

_"Oh, no wooden stick to fight back with?"_ The voice taunted him, realizing that the boy now had no means of protecting the girl, or protecting himself for that matter. The shadows began to swirl around the room faster as the malevolent voice cackled. Tangible shadows snaked up his legs and brought him to his knees, restraining his hands behind his back. Jack's heart sank as a face suddenly appeared out of the darkness. Out of all the conflicting thoughts and emotions that were going through his head, he only spat out one word laced with an icy cold edge to it.

"Pitch."

A/N -sniffles- you guys are so nice to me T^T thanks for all your support! My confidence was boosted from reading your guys reviews. I can now continue this story in peace. I know that this was a short chapter, but I really have no experience in writing romantic situations, so please give me some advice on how I could improve!

And if you didn't figure it out by now, **bold is Jack**, and _italics are Karin_. Both together are obviously both of them.

Oh, and yeah, I left it a cliff hanger ^^ haha, don't worry though, I'm already thinking about the next chapter, and I'll update as soon as I can :3 nyaa~


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

A menacing laugh filled the room as Jack struggled against the tight grip binding his arms together. He felt his chest squeeze painfully as he slowly came to the realization of the futile situation that he was in. Here he was, trapped by the shadows of the boogey man with no means of protecting the still unconscious Karin without his staff.

_"Oh how I've waited for this moment!"_ Pitch exclaimed, spreading his arms out wide with satisfaction while walking around the room towards the white haired boy. _"I knew that you'd be the first one to break, Jack."_ Said boy threw him another glare.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" he growled at the evil presence. A wide grin appeared on the creepy man's face, distorting his wretched appearance even more so.

_"You still don't get it? My, you're a slow one."_ Another low growl came from Jack. _"Do you need me to spell it out for you?"_ A hand lashed out and violently grabbed Karin by her hair. She groaned in pain, but still would not come to. Jack lunged forward instinctively to protect her, but was yanked back by the shadows. _"You were always more… sensitive with your feelings than the others, weren't you? This,"_ he shook the girl by her hair, _"is why I'm here, Jack. It's your fear that brought me back."_

His fear? Jack scowled and thought to himself. _What the hell is he talking about?! I don't fear him. I don't fear Karin either. She's… very important to me. Why would she be‒_ His eyes widened at the sudden revelation.

_‒After all, he was her self-proclaimed guardian. Just like he protected all the children of the world, he would protect her with everything he had. ‒_

He remembered what he was thinking as he watched over her sleep. What had just happened minutes ago seemed to be hours behind them now.

_I… I can't protect her. Without my magic, I'm useless._ The room darkened along with Jack's thoughts on the outcome of the situation they were in. He felt a knot of anxiety form in his stomach as his glare trailed off to the floor shamefully.

In less than 24 hours, he had met and endangered the life of an innocent girl; and it was a girl that could see him no less. Lost in his thoughts of despair, Jack didn't notice that claws of darkness were now holding him up in the air with a dark haze surrounding him. It controlled his thoughts and fed his fears with delusions and nightmares. His eyes glazed over, their once crisp and clear aqua fading to a dark and empty blue. He was struggling with an internal battle of will power, but lost to the overwhelming negative thoughts. Finally, Jack fell into a comatose state, causing the boogey man laughed out in triumph.

_"Yes, I will have my revenge!"_ he exclaimed in delight. With a snap of his fingers, a wisp of darkness rose up from the ground and slithered around Karin's disheveled body. The shadows were seeping into her body, causing her to be haunted by nightmares. She squirmed under the tight grip that the darkness had on her, moaning in pain and discomfort. Pitch held her face from afar with one of his cold hands. _"Hmm, to think that such a plain looking girl would be the reason for my return."_ He turned her face from side to side, examining her closely as if she were an object.

_"Actually, taking a closer look, she seems to be quite charming."_ Pitch brought her face closer to his, and then an evil smile spread across his face. _"You could prove to be quite useful to me."_

Jack could hear everything that he was saying even in his comatose state, yet, he couldn't do anything about it due to his dark restraints. No matter how much he wanted to run up and tear her away from the malevolent clutches that she lay in, the darkness clouding his mind was restraining him. _Is it really going to end like this?_

A tiny flicker in his peripheral vision caught his attention. Through his lifeless eyes, he saw a faint light in the darkness sitting atop the desk. Floating in a small jar tied with a pink ribbon was the snowflake that he had crafted for her earlier that day. She must have put it there when he wasn't paying attention. He remembered the tender thoughts that he had put into its creation. He didn't know why it was glowing so brightly now, but it brought warmth to his cold stiff body. Its light reminded him of her delicate smile, and the way that she made him feel like he had a place in the world. His finger twitched slightly.

"_Every child has something they fear, and I sense a delicious darkness lying within your body."_ Pitch spoke to Karin. He held his greedy hand over her chest, right above her heart.

Then, he closed his hand around some unseen object, and yanked hard. Her body convulsed as he began to extract the fears that lay inside her, turning them from horrible thoughts into material shadows. It was a new technique that he had learned while he was cooped, all alone in the dark. Pitch was enjoying every moment of watching her writhe in pain so much that he failed to notice that Jack had made his way over to the desk in a half conscious state. The man just kept on tugging at her heart, wanting more and more of the fears that he would come to thrive off of.

Then, something unexpected happened: Growing like a vine, a strand of darkness rose up from Karin's heart and coiled itself around the length of his arm; and it began to pull back.

_"What?!"_ The vine tightened its grip. It pulled him in towards her, seemingly intent on dragging all of the fears that had escaped back into her heart, along with Pitch himself. _"What are you doing?"_ he demanded. With Pitch thrown off by the unexpected event, Jack regained control over his body and quickly grabbed the jar. Taking advantage of the moment, he froze the bottle with what little magic he had left and then shattered it. Before Pitch knew what was going on, shards of ice had formed all around him, filling every corner of the room. The crystals all glowed with the same soft light as the snowflake had. With the tiny bright snowflake floating at his shoulder, Jack walked up to Pitch with a new feeling of power and strength that he hadn't felt before.

"You," Jack spat in his face. "Let her go!" He grabbed the evil man by his neck, a familiar fern-like pattern of ice crawling around where he touched. "Or surely, you'll regret it." He snarled, bearing his white teeth as if there were fangs.

_"I- I can't!"_ Pitch pathetically tripped over his words as they came spilling out of his mouth. _"She won't let me go!"_ Jack's grip tightened around his neck. Shards of ice began to cover the man's skin, leaving him immobile. The whole room was aglow with the soft blue light that emanated from the white haired boy's winter magic. Jack felt a mind-numbing rush as he continued to consume the man in his icy wrath. He wasn't thinking anymore, just releasing uncontrolled magic from his body. The man that stood before him was now no more than an ice sculpture, his face frozen in a terrified expression.

A smirk made its way onto Jack's face; he was enjoying this. It gave him an adrenaline rush knowing that he had so much power and control. Slowly, he lifted the frozen popsicle that was Pitch into the air, a dark laugh escaping his mouth. Just as he was about to bring him crashing back down, a flash of light erupted from somewhere behind him.

"Jack, STOP!" bellowed the man in red who came flying out of a portal.

The boy became momentarily distracted, dropping Pitch onto the ground. Within an instant, the man was unfrozen. He lay on the ground for a couple seconds, gasping from the lack of air of being trapped in the ice. Then, before Jack could regain a hold of Pitch, his shadowy figure was seen retreating into the darkness under Karin's bed. Jack's eyes glowered with hatred towards the burly man.

"North, what the he-"

Before Jack could finish his sentence, North anchored him with a punch to the gut. A tiny black blob came flying out of his mouth as the boy keeled over onto the floor, passing out shortly after. When the shadow hit the ground, a tiny black imp rolled around from where it landed. It began to inch its way over to under the bed, but was squashed by North's foot before it could get anywhere. The Russian man looked at the icy mess around the room along with the two unconscious youths laying on the floor. He then sighed to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"This… is a lot worse than I thought."

A/N This flu thing is irritating :/ I can't seem to focus while writing, so if the story seems a little off to you, then… I'll just update this story again later and hopefully it'll be better. Anyway, thanks for reading~ nyaa


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The world was a spinning blur when the boy finally opened his eyes. It was so dark that the trees seemed to be leaning in, trying to grab at him. _Wait. Trees?_

"Rin!" He shot up frantically only to keel over again clutching his gut. He groaned in pain as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the night.

"Finally awake, Frosty?" The voice drifted from several feet away from him. North was tinkering with the reins on his sleigh. He didn't even bother turning around to talk to him. "You've cause me quite a lot of trouble you know." The boy's eyes focused onto his surroundings; he barely recognized his surroundings as the abandoned playground that he had first landed in.

"Where's Rin? What happened?" Thoughts raced through the boy's mind on what had happened before he was knocked out. He remembered Pitch, and then being restrained. There was a small glow coming from her desk, but everything that happened after that was difficult to remember. "Is she alright?"

"Easy on the questions." Was the reply he got. North bent over and grabbed something in his sleigh. "Here, I think you dropped this." The man tossed over the wooden staff to the boy. He caught it clumsily in his arms, almost not recognizing what it was for a second. _My staff…_ Bits and pieces of memories were called to the surface as he held it close. _That magic… How was I able to cast magic without this?_ As if answering his silent questions, North spoke up.

"I wouldn't advise ever attempting that little stunt again. Using your magic without that staff may cause permanent damage to your body," he admonished the boy. "And your existence along with it. Now, I'm not fully aware of what you did," he continued, "but I think your emotions took over and you tapped into your very existence and withdrew the magic from there. If you had kept going…" The man's normally jubilant face seemed older and more aged than usual. "Well, I don't think we'd be having this conversation right now." Jack processed what North had just told to him slowly, as if he had explained everything in a different language.

"Even though we're immortal beings, that doesn't mean that we can't be killed. If we go on about our lives helping children and keeping them believing in us, then we can all live happily ever after. But, there are two ways that we can be eradicated: 1) the children don't believe in us anymore or, 2) we over expend the magic that we have. The latter happens so rarely that I'm sure none of the other guardians know about it, but it can happen." He grabbed Jack by the arm and helped him off the ground.

"What you were doing back there; that was over using the magic you had. Man in moon only gave us so much to use, but you starting taking energy from your life force. You could have died." Jack shrank back a little at those last words. He didn't even know what he was doing at the time, but to think that he could have been wiped off the face of the earth so easily made a shiver run down his spine. North let out a sigh then looked the boy in the eyes.

"Well, it's not entirely your fault. Some of boogey man's darkness was stuck inside you, driving you to do dark things that you probably would have never done." The boy vaguely recalled the malicious power he had felt while strangling the evil man. That adrenaline rush that fueled him to go to such lengths… It was the shadows controlling him to do such things. He would never go to such brutal lengths to fight like that. Even though he thought that to himself, a part of him knew that Pitch's magic wasn't the only reason why he was acting so violently. He truly enjoyed watching him suffer under his icy grip after what he did to Karin. Jack shuddered and tried to shake off the thought, but he knew that this would haunt him for a while.

"Oh, and as for that girl-" Jack was abruptly yanked away from his thoughts as North continued to talk. "It was Rin, no? You sure know how to find trouble. That girl isn't normal. While I was busy cleaning up the mess you made," North explained, giving an accusing look to the boy. Jack just shrugged, returning with a nonchalant expression. "I noticed that she still had some darkness within her. After I took a closer look, I noticed that it wasn't from boogey man's magic. It was like… it didn't have his signature on it, you know? Whatever darkness that was, it was there from before today."

The boy's snowy eyebrows furrowed together, trying to understand what the man had just said. He hadn't noticed anything dark or evil about Rin. In fact, she seemed to be more kind and pure-hearted than anyone else that he had met so far. Her soft brown hair, and the way that she made him smile; there was no way she could have been deceiving him, right?

"From her reaction to Pitch's magic though, she probably didn't know she had it in her. Poor child; this must have been so overwhelming for her, and on Christmas Eve too! Curse that boogey man. How dare he choose to come back on the most important day of the year!" North shook his fist angrily at the sky, then dropped it and sighed. "Well, it's a good thing she won't remember any of this in the morning." Jack's aqua eyes widened, and the words came out of his mouth as he was thinking them.

"Wait- What do you mean she won't remember?" He was on his feet, limping his way over to the sleigh. "Why wouldn't she?" North couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. He could see the confusion mixed with concern written all over his face. The man turned his back to him, not able to look him in the face.

"When Pitch dug into her heart, it took the liberty of taking its own precautionary measures. Now, I have no idea _how_ she did it, but she put up some type of… barrier around her heart that was supposed to get rid of any unfamiliar and foreign substances. As it was successful in its attempt to take in and destroy the boogey man, it was also successful in destroying any and all memories connected to this event."

The man looked down at his shoes, then silently added, "And, yes,… all her memories of you were erased too." Jack felt his legs give out under him, but he made no attempt to stop from slumping to the ground.

_She… won't remember me? I know it's only been a day, but…_ A hot tear streamed down the side of his face and landed in the grass. There were still traces of snow on the field, but soon, the sun would rise and all evidence of him ever being there would be gone. _If she forgot me, does that mean that she can't see me anymore?_ As the boy shook with pain and frustration, North made no attempt to comfort him. What could he do? Pat him on the back and tell him that there's 'other fish in the sea'? Actually, the man was surprised that Jack found someone else in another world that believed in him at all; it was nothing short of a miracle. It was just too bad that it had to end so tragically for him. Speaking of other worlds…

"Jack, how did you get here?" North was sure that he was the only one in their world that knew about other worlds, so how did Frosty get here? The boy wiped his face, trying desperately to regain his composure.

"Does it matter?" he said bitterly, not intending for it to come out that way. He sighed in irritation, then stood up again. "I flew here. How else do you think I could have gotten here?" North shook his head, pacing the side of the sleigh.

"No, no. I mean, how did you get _here_? To this world?" Jack threw him a bewildered look as if the man was joking around with him, cause it wasn't funny. That's all it took for North to realize the sticky situation he was in: Jack didn't know about other worlds. He had just told him about it. Mentally slapping himself for revealing the long kept secret, he turned around and faced the boy.

"You… didn't know that this was a different world, did you?" The man should have known better. After all, this world seemed to be identical with their own down to the finest detail, except for a few minor, tiny, itty bitty things. For example, the fact that they didn't _exist_ in this world. North sighed to himself again. Stupidity aside, he still didn't know how the boy got here.

"North…?" Jack raised an inquisitive eyebrow, his curiosity temporarily taking place of his sadness. "What do you mean-"

_-beep beep-_ A tiny alarm went off in the sleigh.

They both looked over to the tiny LED clock sitting on (what Jack assumed to be) the dashboard.

_11:00PM_

"HOLY CRA- WE HAVE TO GO!" North hollered, grabbing Jack by the nape of his sweater and chucking him into the sleigh. "There's only an hour left before midnight! Since I had to go out of my way to help your ass on CHRISTMAS EVE-" Jack cringed when he said that, "you'll be helping me with my deliveries this year- no but's."

"But, what did you mean-"

"I SAID NO BUT'S!" bellowed North as he fished a clear sphere out of his coat. "I'll just explain everything to you later. Now, we go!" He chucked the orb once more, and they were gone with a flash.

* * *

"Merry Christmas!" My sister came into my room and shook me awake. It was still dark outside, but there were signs of the sun rising. "Come on Rin! Let's open presents!" My sister was older than me by a couple years, yet she still managed to act like a five year old when it came to things like Christmas. I slouched into a sitting position, my hair sticking to the sides of my face.

"Nn, alright, alright. Go wake mom and dad up then." In one great bound, she was off my bed and out the door. After face palming to myself, I swung my feet over the side of my bed and took in the morning air. It was warmer today than it had been the past few days. I stepped onto the hard wood floor, only to retract my foot in surprise.

The floor was freezing! My room itself was around a comfortable 75 degrees, but it felt like I had stepped out onto an ice rink without any shoes. I tentatively set my foot back down on the floor. It was still cold, but I decided to suck it up and go downstairs to meet with the rest of my family. As I got closer to the door, the floor seemed to warm up a bit. _Hmm. That's strange._ I thought, looking back at my bed. Just as I was about to turn around to leave, something bright caught my eye.

Sitting next to one of my bedposts was a small, bright and shiny something. I walked closer to it to see what it was, but it was strange; only the surrounding area of it seemed to be freezing cold. Squatting down, I picked up the small object and inspected it closer.

Sitting in my palm was a tiny snowflake. I could feel the coolness radiating from it as I turned it over. It had a comfortable glow that seemed to be soothing, though holding it was like holding an ice cube. I wasn't too sure what it was made of, but since it wasn't melting in my hand, I knew it wasn't a real snowflake. It was way too big to be one anyway. _Wait, why would there be snow in Hawaii in the first place?_ I face palmed yet again. My incredulous delusions were a sure sign that I was awake too early in the morning.

I looked underneath my bed to see where it could have come from, but there were nothing but old dusty books. Well, whatever it was, it was a cute charm so I decided to keep it. I walked up to my dresser that was covered in little knick knacks, looking for a suitable place to keep my new found discovery.

"Ugh, where did I put that bottle?" I searched around the cluttered mess for a cute jar that I had recently found with a pink ribbon on it. It would have been the perfect size to put it in, but I guess I would just have to settle for something else.

"Riiin! Hurry up!" My sister's voice trailed from downstairs. I couldn't help but laugh at her childish impatience.

"Coming~" I gently dumped the snowflake charm into another small jar that I had found and set it down on the dresser. I spun around and grabbed my fuzzy blanket off the bed, knocking the jar off the side in the process. I was in too much of a rush to notice as it rolled under my dresser. I was already out the door, ready to enjoy Christmas with my family.

A/N Whee~ I guess I'll end it here for now ^3^ I'm thinking about writing a sequel, but it won't come until later on. Anyway, thanks for your support and feedback! I know that I just kinda crammed a lot of story into this last chapter, but this story is actually more of a prologue to another story that's coming soon.

BUT, for you unsatisfied readers, here's a… epilogue of sorts:

* * *

"Can you believe it?! It's already that time of year again!"

The big man in red was pacing around the deck, waving his hands about excitedly. The tiny elves ran about in a confused frenzy while the yetis were sluggishly walking around, not too ecstatic about the work that was to come. A white haired boy sat lazily in one of the windowsills of the factory, drawing fern-like patterns of ice on the glass.

_Yup. It's been one whole year since then._ He recalled the events of last year's Christmas silently to himself. After the events that happened with that girl, him and the crazy man who was talking so animatedly right now came back to this world and delivered that Christmas's presents in record time. Since the deliveries went so well last year, North had made him promise to help out again this year. The boy gripped his staff tighter. He hadn't promised his help for nothing.

_ After all the deliveries were made, they landed back in the North Pole. Not a word was said to each other the entire trip, but when they both got out of the sleigh, the boy whacked the man upside his head without warning. North yelped in surprise, and then rubbed the side of his now throbbing head._

_ "That's for dumping me in your sleigh like I was cargo." The boy pouted, standing in the path of the man. "Answers. Now." Jack demanded, his eyes becoming narrow slits._

_ "Fine, fine. I'll tell you everything. I guess you deserve to know. But you have to promise that you won't tell anyone one else, and I mean anyone." Jack gave a curt nod, and the man continued. "…And you have to help me out again next year," the boy raised his staff, ready to strike again, but North quickly finished his sentence. "If you don't, I won't tell you!" Jack hesitated, and then pulled back._

_ "Fine, just hurry up and explain." He grunted. And so, North went on to tell him about everything he knew. As he went on and on, the boy made a mental list of all the information that he was told._

_1) There are other worlds besides our own. The man in the moon had told North since he was the oldest of all the guardians at the moment. It was crucial that no one else found out about the other worlds, otherwise that information could fall into the wrong hands._

_2) Speculation from North suggests that the reason why Pitch had appeared in that other world was because Jack had brought him there through his fear. Since fear exists in every world, it's not improbable that he would be able to show up there._

_3) Travel between the worlds was strictly forbidden. The only known way to North about traveling between the worlds was through the use of his transport spheres. Jack had avoided telling him about how he ended up in that other world. He lied telling him that he didn't know._

_4) When North was examining the girl for any wounds and discovered the darkness within her, he had identified it as a really powerful type of magic that he could only hope to understand one day._

_5) The girl was dangerous. Since she held that dark magic, she was a threat to those around her, and Jack was forbidden from ever seeing her again._

_ The boy was silent for a while, sitting on a nearby rock. It was a lot of information to take in, especially because he didn't believe half of what he was told. North sat down next to him and patted him on his back._

_ "Trust me, this is for the best." He told Jack. "As for that girl, it's best if you forget about her too." But the boy didn't want to forget about her, and her round face with such a smooth complexion, and how her smile would make him feel all warm inside._

But as the year went by, he began to forget those tiny details about her, until he finally forgot her name. The only thing that he couldn't get out of his head was the way she made him feel. Nothing could ever replace that feeling.

North was going on and on about the preparations that would need to get done, when suddenly, something caught Jack's eye. Out the window, he spotted a star that seemed to shine brighter than the others. It twinkled gently, causing him to smile. It kind of reminded him of the girl.

Then, it got bigger. Jack blinked several times, checking to see if his vision was going bad, but there it was, as clear as day. It kept on growing until he finally realized that it wasn't a star. There was something all too familiar about the bright light that shone in the distance.

When North had his back to him, he slipped out the window, carefully closing it behind him. Focused on the light, he sped towards it, though the wind was blowing against him, as if it were telling him not to go near it. He kept on flying anyway, faster and faster, until he heard it.

A scream was heard from the voice that he had missed so much. But it was a scream for help, and with a newfound determination, he flew like a bullet towards the bright light in the sky. Just as he was about to hit it, her name finally resurfaced in his head.

_Rin, don't worry. I'm coming._


End file.
